In 2007, Transformers became a behemoth hit for Paramount. The Michael Bay-directed adaptation of the animated series helped reinvigorate interest in the franchise, leading to a sprawling film series and numerous expansions into animation and video games. At much of the heart of this era of Transformers is Optimus Prime, leader of the heroic Autobots. Played in his original animated form by Peter Cullen, the veteran voice actor ultimately returned to play the character in his modern form.
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Michael Bay's Transformers premiering in theaters, members of the media, including CBR, were invited to Paramount Studios to check out some props from the film as well as hear from Cullen directly about his memories of joining the new approach to the series and working with Michael Bay.
After taking the Paramount Studio Tour and being led to one of the studio's prop houses, Cullen joined the assembled press and spoke in front of a life-size version of Optimus in his big rig form. Noting that 15 years earlier his grandson had gotten the chance to ride inside Optimus, Cullen reflected on his memories with the character, noting, "Time goes by so fast. The nostalgia in here, when I think about how this has transgressed from a small movie back in 1986 to an action movie in 2007... It's just as exciting as anything I've ever done in my life."
Even though he had been the voice for Optimus in the original Transformers -- as well as other characters, including fellow Autobot Ironhide -- Cullen revealed he wasn't initially guaranteed the role in the Michael Bay-directed reimagining of the franchise. "When I first auditioned for Michael," Cullen explained, "a young gal was going to read the lines of the other character. We looked at the script, and it said Ironhide. I actually played Ironhide in the cartoon series as well. So I said, 'Well, I'd like to do a take of Ironhide, too.' Michael looked up and said, 'You can do that?' I said, 'Yeah, all the time. Frank Welker, one of the great voice actors of all time, he'd do Megatron and like five other voices. So we always ended up talking to ourselves."
According to Cullen, he then delivered a line in Ironhide's voice to the surprise of the actress he was reading with, and Bay simply asked him to keep reading Prime's dialogue instead. He left a positive impression on the director, though, who brought Cullen back for two more auditions and eventually gave him the part. "[Bay] always had a really big smile on his face," Cullen recalled. "It was just interesting to see how [my voice] was going to fit how big Michael's concept of a 45-foot statue, how it was going to fit my voice. He was like, 'How are we going to make that adjustment?' So I said, 'We'll just go lower.'"
The pair clearly found a happy collaboration together, as Cullen has remained a part of the franchise ever since in the part of Prime. Looking back at the experience, Cullen explained how "when we were in production with Michael Bay, who I thought was an incredible, incredibly creative guy, he was like a general, you know... putting all that together and then going into a small room and telling me about what's going to happen, and I would come up with Optimus Prime. He would always be very happy. He didn't know much about the characters beforehand, but he certainly learned quickly."
Transformers is currently available to stream on Paramount+, and fans of the franchise can see some of the props from the series as part of the Paramount Studios Tour.